First tank

carlosc said:

If you were getting your first tank today, what would you get? I am new, have a compressor but would love a good sized tank so I can do a bunch of target shooting and night pest control without the noise of the compressor. Prefer large tanks for more fills. Thank you!

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I like the Omega 100 cubic foot. I have the older style valve but the newer HP3 valves are nice. And I would get the Alpha molecule filter from Joe B (that’s all I would buy from him). I'm currently about to pull the trigger on an Omega Air Charger.

Exactly. If comfortable with spending a grand on a big new CF bottle, it is your money. No one is being injured by exploding CF air bottles, don't make that claim it's hyperbolic at best. Evidence of exploded bottles would be quite welcome. Carbon Fiber, Aramid and Aluminum liners have very long service lives far greater than that somehow magic 15 year period. What is the difference between a 15 year bottle and a thirty year bottle? I'll contend 15 years is the only difference. These bottles are not poorly constructed submersibles stressing CF in compression bass ackwards on that deal. We pays our money, and we takes our chances.

I'm kicking around getting a second tank, can't honestly say I need it but, I've actually been burning through pellets and slugs so refilling more often. Is there a serious advantage to the larger tanks over a 7x cf tank? I know this has been discussed but I can't find it so, here it is again.

The larger 60 minute SCBA air bottles (9CF) are much harder to find used and cheap versus the 30 min bottles. My plan is to gang two 30 min bottles for a 9 CF supply at home with a QD setup to allow one of the two to be portable. The 30 min bottle is about right to tote along for me. I made a nice bottle cover from the arm section of an old marine survival suit, just perfect to protect the CF bottle from bumps and bruises. The suit had two arms.

I bought a used Air Venturi tank for $300 (large one). It looked pretty new. I took it to get it visually inspected upon delivery and everything checked out. I haven’t looked back. Keep an eye open for a deal from a reputable vendor. My first tank was a smaller SCBA tank that was under $600 I think. A good deal on a used tank from a reputable dealer is the way to go.

My budget for air bottles is more in the 50-100 dollar range. IE: Well used and expired SCBA air bottles. If they fail they do not fail violently, treat them with care, don't use bottles that have damage in to the wrap. Inspect them and use the heck out of them. If these bottles fail violently we would already have that data, I contend there is none. Much more important to be cautious with QD connections, don't wrap your hand around the bottle neck, depressurize your gun fully PRIOR to disassembly, respect that a blast of 3 K PSI air will pass directly through your hand causing rapid unplanned disassembly of same. Same if an O-ring blows out at a bottle neck extreme hurt is a given if our hand is there. It is not hard to be safe and careful, new bottles can fail too, in the same ways as an old one.

@carlosc @Ricklin seen this ad? https://www.airgunnation.com/threads/scott-30-minute-44-cu-ft-tank.1322100/#post-1848376

I think I paid 48 bucks for the last 30 min bottle I got off Ebay, they are cheap and available. I care not about manufacture date and DOT certification. I fill my own bottles. The "expired" 60 min. air bottles are much harder to find and much more costly typically more than double the 30's more like triple the cost. I think the thrifty and handy answer for me is to gang two 30's for home air with QD to take one bottle with for the range or field. I'll work on that when the toy fund recovers. Currently selling my big motor coach on ebay..oy vay people sure are flaky, I have sold it twice already this week! I revised the ad to 500 deposit req. within 24 hr. No more flakes...not for free!

I am another happy user of an expired Scott 45 minute fireman's tank. There is zero technical basis for the 15 year life. Zero. If you think otherwise please read the lengthy report the Navy had done to argue for a change. They want to do a true non destructive test instead of the hydro which damages tanks. It is a messed up situation with some bodies "engineering judgement" imposed on the industry ignoring the data and better testing methods.

I bought an older Air Venturi 74cf tank from Pyramid with last year's black friday sale. Reputable brand, reputable dealer, great price (relatively speaking). I have my own compressor so I didn't care that it's certification was a few years ago...Not sure, but black friday may be coming around again soon ;-).

So for a newby where would you buy a tank the dive shop here doesn't sell scba tanks and I would like to keep price down . not really sure on compressor something small and Reliable what do you all have and use thanks

carlosc said:

Hello again! I ended up going with the Tuxing 6.8L tank and I'm very happy with it. The seller messed up and shipped the tank without the valve and the hose and that was annoying because I had to wait another week to use the tank.

Have filled my gun with it a bunch of times and absolutely love it.

Quickly learned that I need an easier way to carry the tank and to keep it protected and from rolling. I have a 3D printer so I designed and printed "feet" with foam padding on the inside and with a hole to hold the hose in place, and I made a paracord handle. Works quite well!

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Duh, why didn't I think about this? Would you mind sharing the file?

thebull said:

So for a newby where would you buy a tank the dive shop here doesn't sell scba tanks and I would like to keep price down . not really sure on compressor something small and Reliable what do you all have and use thanks

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Depends,
If filling at a dive shop, your air bottle must be "in hydro" and DOT certified. Most of us here do not buy our high pressure air. Yong Heng HPA pumps are getting decent reviews of late, Amazon with a warranty likely the safest way $$ wise. Around 250 + -
Your own pump means you choose air bottles, I like the expired SCBA bottles found on ebay, under 50 for a 30 minute air bottle. 30s are easy and cheap to find, the big 60 minute air bottles not so much but do pop up. We have a great chart now for how much air they hold in liters. You need a fill whip for the CGA347 valve on it 40 bucks or so. Don't forget a double ended male QD to hook pump to air bottle fill whip. Fire departments retire their air bottles @ 15 years, IMO and that of many others they have that amount of life left, IE another 15 years.

LUXFER SCBA inspection criteria. Read the section on exterior damage.